Anyone get a chance to check out the Saveur 100 yet?
This year's compendium was a focused homage to the home cook with page after page of practical recipes, essential cooking equipment, and recommendations for pantry staples. How awesome - and useful!
If you don't receive this magazine monthly, it's worth picking up a copy of this issue for the recipes alone. There are instructions for making your own vinegar, mustard, ketchup, and even Worcestershire sauce. These recipes plus those for flavor boosters like harissa and red curry paste make this issue a DIY cook's dream!
It was also interesting to see which books the editor's considered essential for a cook's library. They included primarily general cookbooks like The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan, American Century Cookbook by Jean Anderson, and Parisian Home Cooking by Michael Roberts. The only one we actually own from the list is LaVarenne Pratique by Anne Willan, which given to us on the first day of culinary school and has proven to be a decent culinary reference book.
The recommendations for oils, vinegars, salts, and sugars made us smile, although you certainly don't have to stock 6 kinds of oil or 5 types of salt in order to call yourself a home cook! It was interesting to see what Saveur recommended for each of these pantry staples. Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt was a familiar face and the section on vinegars convinced us that its time to move beyond just cider and red wine vinegar!
There was plenty more to love in this list. If you get a chance, we definitely recommend taking a look!
What were your favorites from this year's Saveur 100?
Related: How to Stock a Vegetarian Pantry
(Image: Saveur Magazine)
I've been a subscriber for several years and this has to be one of my favorite issues. I've got little sticky tabs marking several of the pages. Their six favorite vinegars included Datu Puti coconut vinegar. I've had a bottle in my pantry for quite some time. I immediately pulled the unopened bottle out of my pantry, determined to come up with a way to use it. Some of my favorites out of the "100" list: how to use twine to tie a stuffed bone-in chicken breast, pineapple upside-down cake recipe from a CA firehouse, how to julienne carrots using a Star peeler -- it's just a great issue that anyone will find useful. I'll be keeping this one.
view All About Food's profile
This is always my favorite issue of the year. It was sad this year to see ad pages down and a much thinner issue than usual. Here's hoping for better next year!
view ah-ha's profile
Based on your recommendation I had to go right out and buy the issue ... not too far into it yet but already I love it, just for the piece on bacon fat!
view kyoko71's profile
Man, sometimes I catch myself just salivating over pictures of food. I sound like Homer groaning for a donut. That picture is pure food porn.
view chusmabilly's profile
Is there some way to browse that online article other than clicking back and forth between the list and descriptions? It'd be 10X more readable if you could flip straight through...
view erica's profile